Offering and giving bribes to police officers is a common practice aimed at avoiding detection and punishment for a violation or crime. In most cases, offering and giving bribes to police officers involves offering a relatively small amount of money to motivate the law enforcement officer not to issue a report for an administrative violation of the Road Traffic Act. These include refusing to take a drug test, driving with a suspended license or without the necessary legal capacity, driving without civil liability insurance, etc.
In practice, bribes are also offered to police officers in cases where minor offences have been detected, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as well as possession of drugs or their analogues.
In rarer cases, attempts to bribe police officers have been observed in connection with more serious crimes such as refugee trafficking, drug distribution, and similar offences. The reason why this act is relatively rare in these cases is that they usually involve a specialised police operation, which significantly limits the possibility of discreetly offering and giving bribes to police officers.
In today’s article, we examine the general hypothesis of offering and giving bribes to police officers from the perspective of the company’s practice.
Bribery of a police officer – essence
According to the Penal Code, offering, promising, or giving a gift or benefit to a public official when this is done with the aim of motivating them to perform or not perform a specific official duty constitutes a crime.
A crime is also committed when the gift or benefit is offered, promised, or given for the fact that the official has already performed or failed to perform a specific official duty.
IMPORTANT! This does not apply to small gifts as a token of gratitude (e.g., a box of chocolates).
Penalties and defense against charges of bribing a police officer
Offering, promising, or giving a bribe to a police officer is a serious crime, for which the law provides for severe penalties.
In cases where offering, promising, or giving a bribe was not sufficient motivation for the police officer to perform or fail to perform any official acts, the punishment is imprisonment for up to six years and a fine of up to five thousand leva.
For committing this crime, the perpetrator cannot be exempted from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty. If, prior to committing this act, he has not been sentenced to imprisonment or has been rehabilitated, a suspended sentence may be imposed.
In the presence of multiple or exceptional mitigating circumstances, it is possible that imprisonment will not be imposed and will be replaced by probation.
In cases where offering, promising, or giving a bribe has sufficiently motivated a police officer to perform or fail to perform an official duty, the punishment is imprisonment for up to eight years and a fine of up to seven thousand leva.
Under this hypothesis, it is also not possible to achieve exemption from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty, but a suspended sentence is possible, as is the replacement of the prison sentence with probation.
The above information regarding the types and severity of penalties, as well as the options for avoiding actual imprisonment, applies to cases in which a conviction is handed down.
Being charged with bribing a police officer and having an indictment filed in court for such a crime does not always lead to a conviction. This is because, in order for a conviction to be handed down, the guilt of the person who offered, promised, or gave a bribe to a police officer must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. These issues are decided on a case-by-case basis according to the circumstances of the case.
In all cases, particular attention should be paid to situations where the person who offered, promised, or gave a bribe to a police officer was pressured or threatened to do so. In such a case, it is advisable to report the matter to the relevant competent state authorities before pressing charges.
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Еднолandчно адвокатско дружество “Сandлвandя Петкова“ е спецandалandзandрана наказателноправна кантора. Екипът ни разполага с висококвалифицирани и опитни специалисти по наказателно право.
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